ANCIENT KuNIuRI: Anasurimbor Celmomas II (2089-2146)-High-King of Kuniuri, and tragic principal of the First Apocalypse.

Anasurimbor Nau-Cayuti (2119-2140)-youngest son of Celmomas, and tragic hero of the First Apocalypse.

Anasurimbor Ieva (2125-2146)-treacherous wife of Nau-Cayuti.

Seswatha (2089-2168)-Grandmaster of the Sohonc, lifelong friend of Celmomas, founder of the Mandate, and determined foe of the No-God.

THE FANIM:.

Fanayal ab Kascamandri-the Bandit Padirajah, and sworn foe of the New Empire.

Meppa-the Last of the Cishaurim.

Malowebi-Mbimayu Schoolman, and the emissary sent by the Satakhan of Zeum to assess Fanayal and his insurrection.

THE DuNYAIN:.

A monastic sect whose members have repudiated history and animal appetite in the hope of finding absolute enlightenment through the control of all desire and circumstance. For two thousand years they have hidden in the ancient fortress of Ishual, breeding their members for motor reflexes and intellectual acuity.

THE CONSULT:.

The cabal of magi and generals that survived the death of the No-God in 2155 and has laboured ever since to bring about his return in the so-called Second Apocalypse.

THE THOUSAND TEMPLES:.

The institution that provides the ecclesiastical framework of Zaudunyani Inrithism.

THE MINISTRATE:.

The institution that oversees the Judges, the New Imperium's religious secret police.

THE SCHOOLS:.

The collective name given to the various academies of sorcerers. The first Schools, both in the Ancient North and the Three Seas, arose as a response to the Tusk's condemnation of sorcery. The so-called Major Schools are the Swayal Sisterhood, the Scarlet Spires, the Mysunsai, the Imperial Saik, the Vokalati, and the Mandate (see below).

THE MANDATE:.

Gnostic School founded by Seswatha in 2156 to continue the war against the Consult and to protect the Three Seas from the return of the No-God, Mog-Pharau. Incorporated into the New Imperium in 4112. All Mandate Schoolmen relive Seswatha's experience of the First Apocalypse in their dreams.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

The Second Apocalypse has grown to such an extent that I'm beginning to feel the need to thank everybody who helped along the way. The myriad agents, editors, illustrators, and translators across the globe. The web reviewers and moderators. Most of all, I want to thank you, the reader, for placing your trust in what must have seemed a mad experiment back when it was all new. Things are starting to get big...

Otherwise, I need to thank all the habitual offenders: Darren Nash at Orbit UK (I already miss you, Dude!) Adrienne Kerr and David Ross at Penguin Canada. Aaron Schlechter at Overlook. And last but not least, my agent, Chris Lotts.

I also need to thank my brother, Bryan Bakker, and Todd Kuhn. My deepest debt of gratitude I owe to my wife, Sharron, and to our breathtaking little girl, Ruby.

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